KUALA LUMPUR – Sungai Siput PKR chief Kesavan Subramaniam has resolved his defamation dispute with former aide Indrani Ramasamy by fulfilling the RM100,000 damages awarded by the court last week.
Lawyer Rueben Mathiavaranam, who represented plaintiff Indrani in the appeal, confirmed the payment to the media today.
According to media reports, Rueben disclosed that the total payment of RM106,226.66 was transferred to Indrani on November 6 through the law firm A. Arman & Co.
The order for Kesavan to pay the sum to his former research aide comes after a panel of three Court of Appeal judges found there were merits in Indrani’s appeal on October 20.
The appellate court justices deemed the High Court’s dismissal of Indrani’s suit on June 30 last year as erroneous.
In addition to ordering Kesavan to pay Indrani RM80,000 in damages, the judges also directed him to cover over RM20,000 in costs and additional interests, resulting in the total payment.
Indrani filed her suit on May 16, 2019, alleging that Kesavan sexually harassed her, a claim he publicly denied in December 2018.
Kesavan countered by asserting that it was Indrani who had been making sexual advances towards him.
High Court judge Azimah Omar, now a Court of Appeal judge, dismissed the suit last year, citing an extramarital affair between Kesavan and Indrani, and ordered both parties to bear their respective legal costs.
Indrani subsequently appealed Azimah’s decision at the Court of Appeal. – November 19, 2023